I'm on the long road to the German Intermot motorcycle exhibition. It's a long journey, and I should arrive on Monday.

I'll be travelling mostly by train, and this weekend I'll be in Paris, and then by high-speed train to Cologne. I should be back Thursday afternoon, so in the mean time, I've got a few articles pre-programmed to keep you busy.

Several years ago, BMW lost the contract of supplying the Gendarmes, National Police and Customs officers with Bavarian-made (Berlin actually) motorcycles. Instead, the authorities decided to buy their officers Yamaha FJR1300 motorcycles.

Now, BMW France announced that they will be supplying the Law Enforcement Officers from the different units with BMW R1200RT "Special Administration", or better "Police" version. BMW's contract is for 3 years.

So now the big question is why are they going back to BMW. Did the Yamaha not fulfill it's role, was it too expensive (doubtful), or what was the reason BMW got the contract back???

Brammo Hong Kong released an interesting video of one of their Enertia electric motorcycles riding around and into Hong Kong. It's interesting since a) Hong Kong is an enormous big city, and b) you get to see how an electric motorcycle holds up in city traffic.

In the 20 minute long video, you get to see mostly motorway riding, so no stopping (and therefore recharging the battery) except for the toll booth (around the 4:30 mark).

The first thing that will strike you is the noise level! Don't for one moment think that electric motorcycles are totally silent; they're not. The engine itself makes a whining noise, and the chain adds to that. It's quieter than traditional motorcycles, but not silent.......

KTM owned Husaberg have recently updated their web site. It has become a very much web 2.0 site, well color coordinated (everything is blue and yellow), and you can navigate around their site with ease.

The images they use are cool, it looks a bit like 3D. Surprisingly, the free wallpapers have similar photos as background, so it looks like some designer really went to town and redesigned the web site from the ground up.

You knew if was coming. With the mandatory breathalyzer requirement for cars and motorcycles (you need to have at least one in working condition on you) and the difficulties of obtaining the units here in France, the first machine not located in a disco that distributes the homologated breathalyzer has been installed at a driving school.

The owner of the school installed the unit as prevention (imagine showing up for driving lessons drunk..) and because many people didn't know where to buy the mandatory alcohol testing units. He's selling the breathalyzer for €2 per unit (which is what they cost in gas stations, if you can find one).

You used to find some of these machines in discos, but I'm sure you'll be seeing these distributors popping up in the most unexpected places, like parkings, police stations, motorcycle dealers.. etc.

In the mean time, the manufacturer of the breathalyzer is rubbing his hands while raking in the money. But that is because he's the one who got the stupid law passed in France, so that he could sell millions of units.

I knew there was some very usefulness for smartphones, somewhere. Yes, phoning is nice, but so 1990's, texting is nice, but so 2000's, navigation is nice, but so 2010. No, what's really cool is when your smartphone app tell you how fast you should go to catch the next light green. And it's something that's going to happen shortly.

The geeks at MIT have designed a smartphone app that does exactly that. Using the front camera of your phone (if your phone doesn't have one, stop reading now and go back to your Tandy TRS-80), the software detects when traffic lights change color (red, orange, green), and using complicated formulas (which only MIT folks can understand), it will tell you at what speed you need to be travelling on your motorcycle to reach the light while it's green. So no more stopping for red lights (and no more drag races).

Between Colorado and Utah it's a tossup for who produces the best safety TV commercials. Both states are very active in road safety advertisements, cars and motorcycles.

The Utah Department of Safety (DPS) just released three very short TV PSAs that hit home in their simplicity and message. Very short, 15 seconds each, I particularly like the first one, since it's slogan is very good: "Body Shops Can't Repair Bodies". The second one is good too if you listen to the introduction. The last one is not bad, but less than the others.

All three commercials are divided between car and motorcycles riders need to pay attention....

Yet another proof that the leaders are losing it. The Mayor of Paris, Delanoe (a very anti-motorcycle man), is looking at lowering the important Parisian ring road (called the Boulevard Peripherique, or BP) speed limit to 70 kph from 80 kph.

First of all, it's funny, since between Monday and Friday, day and night, that road is so heavily used, the average speed is 15 kph for cars, and 30 kph for motorcycles. The only times the ring road is open is late at night on the weekend, and then speeds are often 150 kph, way above the authorized speed limit, and then by the young kids from the "burbs" in their GTIs.

So why even bother using the little brain power you have to occupy yourself with issues that do nothing? Instead use your brain cells to do something about important issues in the French capital, like motorcycle parking areas, allowing motorcycles to ride in the bus lanes, allow motorcycles to split lanes, allow motorcycles ...... bla bla bla. There are so many real issues out there. According to the Mayor, it's to fight pollution. Pollution? The only pollution I see is when politicians speak.

Good news for lazy people like me. Checking for your tire pressure is a thing that you must do on a very regular basis. Under or over tire pressure not only can cost you more petrol, but is very unsafe. But it's a hassle to check the tire pressure. Knowing myself and my laziness, I've even installed a wireless tire pressure system on my BMW, but I haven't been able to do it on the Ducati. And I usually don't check it.... bad boy!

Well, for people like me, Goodyear is coming with a solution that is heaven sent. It's a totally self-contained self-inflating tire technology called Goodyear's Air Maintenance Technology (AMT). This very smart system sits inside the tire, and is not connected in any shape to the vehicle, so no pumps, hoses or wires.

Inside the tire is a regulator system that checks the tire pressure......

It looks like we in France (and others) aren't the only ones who will be forced to wear hi-viz gear when riding our motorcycles. In Australia, one misguided cop has gotten in his mind that he can save many of the 200 or so motorcycle related deaths per year amongst the 1.3 million riders.

He is trying to push through legislation that will force motorcycle riders to wear hi-visibility clothing, day and night. He reckons that this way, bikers will be more visible to car drivers, and therefore avoid accidents (we'll become target fixation, that's probably more like it)

A TV commercial from way back, 1976 to be exact. It's the kind of advertisements you used to see in those days, bland, often humorous, and nothing about the motorcycle.

The motorcycle company is Suzuki, and it's all about having fun. Three young guys are out searching for Bigfoot. At the end they find him, and then the tag line says that Suzuki motorcycles are reliable.... not bad.

On the 2nd of October 2012 starts the German Intermot motorcycle exhibition, one of world's biggest expos. In many enormous exhibition halls, world's main and minor motorcycle manufacturers will be displaying their best gear.

Usually between Intermot and the following month's EICMA we get to see all the latest motorcycles models, and often many of the new accessories. Manufacturers wait until one of these two mammoth motorcycle shows to launch their new models. Of course in today's electronic society with TV and internet, where every person and his dog has a phone-camera, it has almost become impossible to hide new bikes from the public; ALMOST. Sometimes a manufacturer manages to truly hide their new efforts and surprise us when they show the new model. Let's hope this will be the case in 2 weeks time.

What can we expect to see, and from who - the only question is when (Intermot or Eicma):

The European union, in its eternal wisdom, and greed, is planning to subject all European motorcycle riders to an annual technical inspection of our rides. It's something that is mandatory for cars, but not for motorcycles; so far. But under heavy lobbying of the main companies that do the actual inspections, and therefore the companies that make a lot of money, the European politicians think it's a great idea for motorcycles to be inspected annually.

It doesn't matter that all reports and statistics show that motorcycle accidents are very rarely caused by faulty motorcycles. So if it's got nothing to do about the technical side of motorcycles, then what has it got to do with? You've got it.... money.

The European bikers went on a protest demonstration ride last weekend in the city where these crazy laws get voted; Brussels. Bikers from the neighboring countries arrived in mass, and in the individual countries mass protest were held as well (France saw 27,000 bikers riding protests).

Our buddies at the Dutch site Oliepeil have gotten their fingers on some photos of the new Yamaha FJR1300A motorcycle. The photos came from the exhaust manufacturer who obviously couldn't wait until next week.

The body looks wider than the current edition, hence the thought that this might be a 1350.

Smartphones are great, even on a motorcycle. Not only can you stay in touch with your loved ones, but they'll even tell you where and how to go. The problem however is that they are not waterproof, not even rainproof.

So if you're riding your motorcycle, and using a smartphone to do your navigation, you'll need to protect it from rain. Obviously you can purchase one of these expensive rainproof covers. Or you can do what this biker did....;

Water and motorcycles don't really mix, do they? You try to avoid riding in the rain, you take care when washing your bike, and the last thing on your mind is riding your motorcycle into the sea. Unless you are desperate of course. Or if you've got the latest GIBBS Sports Amphibian vehicle.

Called the Quadski, the latest piece of innovative engineering from GIBBS is a combination of a motorcycle, a quad and a jetski. The Quadski is powered by a BMW K1300 engine (the motorcycle part), it has 4 wheels (the quad part) and it rides on water (the jetski part). They decided for BMW engine because of reliability.

The Quadski will give you speeds of around 50 miles per hour (72 kph), both on land and water. ......

This is a TV commercial from waaaay back, 1976 to be exact. The advertisement is from Yamaha USA, and it's actually funny. Done in a Keystone Cops way, it really never shows a motorcycle (apart briefly in a drawing).

The rest is for the cops to dream about.... funny and not bad for those days. In the mean time, they've got to do their work on foot...

In the "what were they thinking" department .... some people who make the infrastructures for us to ride our motorcycles on just don't think about the end-user. They need some human interface specialists.

Quite a good safety commercial from TAC Australia for motorcycle riders. It's thought provoking due to the second part of the advertisement.

The ad shows you that you're not always safe when riding your motorcycle, and in a nice stunt accident, you can see that a crash can happen without you doing anything wrong. But what's more important are the after effects....

Quite an unusual way of dealing with naughty drivers. Instead of penalizing people for reckless use of their cars or motorcycles, deducting or adding (depending on the system) merit points from your license, in this latest Dubai scheme, you get "White" points if you ride without fines.

Black points are added to your driving license for any bad driving you do (speeding, running red lights, etc), while white points are given if you manage to ride without any traffic offences.

Here's the stinger; after 12 months of cumulating white points, you get gift vouchers....

I must say, that the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) has some interesting safety PSA for motorcycle riders.

In the following five advertisements in the form of billboards, they are blaming car drivers for making us wear safety gear... a novel approach. Of course, it's not always the fault of the cage driver, but still, the approach is interesting and could make some bikers think.

Medical problems happen quicker than what you'd expect. Before you know it something can go wrong with anyone, and I don't mean just accidents. Many of us travel miles on our motorcycles, often with several riding buddies. Anything can go wrong, anything..

But what do you need to do when something goes wrong with one of us? One obvious problem is a crash, but apart from crashes, what do you need to do when one of your group or family has an asthma attack? Or a seizure ? Or has a diabetic emergency? Or gets burned ...broken bone... the list is very long.

If someone in your group is a doctor, you're in luck, but if no one has any medical knowledge, this FREE app can save someone's life, maybe yours. The application was made for the British Red Cross, and runs on iPhone, Android and Blackberry........

Sometimes a plain vanilla motorcycle is just not enough. Sometimes you want to customize it the way you like. And for many guys, the female body is perfection, so why not make your motorcycle look like you are riding a woman.

Here are ten photos of motorcycle shaped liked a female body. Imagine the looks you get when riding these... might even be a bit embarrassing. You also got to think where you fill the gas tank... where do you put the nozzle?

For those of you, like me, who believe in ATGATT, this is a great product. The Armored Kevlar hoodie from GoGo Gear. You don't always want to ride your motorcycle with a full fledged jacket. In spring, or even fall, the weather can be nice and warm, but not warm enough to ride with a mesh jacket, and not cold enough to put on a jacket.

A hoodie that is made out of Kevlar, and has removable armor at the elbows, shoulders and back seems to me as heaven sent. The hoodie itself is made out of heavy duty cotton, while the lining in the back and in the sleeve-back is made out of Kevlar. Meaning you can protect yourself decently against road rash. The added armor will prevent bruising or worse......

Nice TV commercial for the Kawasaki KX 250 F motorcycle for model year 2013 (USA, for the rest of the world that's 2012). It's quite well done, with a good action shot of the motorcycle making a jump, and then freeze-framing it.

It's a no-nonsense advertisement, just the bike, and the plus points. Good action shot....

It never ceases to amaze me the ingenuity of the authorities when they want to create new radars. The latest radar type that has started a test here in France is luckily not meant for speeders, or people who run red lights. The new radar is being installed to catch people who on a motorway decide at the very last moment, usually too late, to leave the motorway.

What (often) happens is that people don't see the signs for the off-ramp, and then at the last moment, swerve to the right to exit, and often enough don't make it. So what happens is that they hit the big green divider. Until now, when you hit one of these dividers, your vehicle usually escapes without much damage, but the divider is gone and needs to be replaced. Of the 1500 dividers, 5% have to be changed every year due to cars, motorcycle and trucks hitting them. If the crash was not too violent, the vehicle will continue their route, leaving the authorities with the bill to replace the divider. The cost to replace one...??.... $20,000!.......

Building on the name and style of the famous Baja races held in North America, and their own successful OiLibya Rally of Morocco, the organizers (NPO) have created the Baja Maroc race.

The 3 day event is styled after the Baja 500 event, meaning you don't need roadbooks, just skill, endurance and money to participate. The race is held in the Southern part of Morocco, with the famous Ouarzazate city in the middle (where the movie studies are). It's where you get to ride your motorcycle in the real Sahara desert, with vast stretches of sand, and more importantly; DUNES.

In total during the three days, you'll be riding some 500 kilometers.........

There you go, I never knew that the legendary motorcycle manufacturer Royal Enfield used to make bicycles. Royal Enfield used to be a British motorcycle manufacturer who also made bicycles (like many other manufacturers, then and now), and when they closed down the factories in the 1960s, transferring the production to India, it would appear that the bicycle section went to Japan.

The bicycles, like the motorcycles, are sturdy with class. However, it looks like they never went back into production. Pity. Maybe Royal Enfield India should consider making bicycles again.

Obviously a lot of can said, or written about this. But I'll refrain from any nasty comments that have been forming in my mind.....

My only question is massaging a motorcycle rider's shoulder the next political baby kissing?? Are we now going to see candidates massaging bikers? And I'm sorry, I couldn't resist.... did she get a happy ending?

Drinking and riding your motorcycle is not smart, and it's against the law. Many people can get away with it, since stopping vehicles takes time and money, and the results are low. But two researchers in Greece have come up with something that may put a stop to that.

They developed an algorithm that, when using a thermal camera can tell the LEO if you're drunk or not. What this means is that a cop could get a small handheld camera, point it at motorcycles and cars on the road, and see who is drunk or not. Scary stuff... ....

We've already had three series of (de)motivational posters:- you know, those posters with a photo and some motivational text. But sometimes it's not motivation, just the opposite. And more often than not, the posters are funny, even rude.

The other things Italians are known for, next to making beautiful motorcycles (and a few cars), is food, specifically pasta. All sorts of pasta, like macaroni, spaghetti, vermicelli, etc. So why not combine both specialties?

That's what Sergey from Russia thought. He makes these vehicles out of pasta. Not only does he make motorcycles, but also cars, helicopters, etc. ......

This happens way too much in the USA. Yesterday, a police officer escorting the POTUS on his motorcycle crashed and died while doing his duty. Although this time, from the press reports, the police officer was crashed into by a pick-up truck, so there's not much you can do about that, it's still something that happens a lot in the US (see the Via: below for the source article). Far more than motorcycle escorts in Europe.

You've got to ask yourself why? Is it training? Procedures? Technique? Or simply that the law doesn't allow full control of traffic, something that cops in Europe have.....

Horns on motorcycles are pretty lame. Usually they sound like a duck with a severe flu. Third party horns are a plenty, one we have even tested (link). That was a 140 dB horn, and very useful with cars and trucks that can't really hear you over the noise inside their vehicle.

But you can go better. Much better if we look at what this person has accomplished (on a bicycle mind you). The only problem is that you'll need to sacrifice some space on your motorcycle.

When I ride my motorcycle, I love listening to some upbeat music. And often while riding I sing along. It's relaxing and fun, and I don't have to be bothered that people think I'm crazy (which I am), since they can't see me singing thanks to my full face helmet.

But that pleasure may just be short-lived if authorities start noticing the recent research done in Australia. According to the research, singing and driving is first of all distracting, but it also makes you a bad driver. ....

The 24 Hours of Le Mans motorcycle endurance race is upon us, since it starts this Saturday. However, the qualifiers will start today. FIM, the international motorcycle race federation, is live streaming all tests, qualifiers and the actual race. So if you live somewhere too far to go and see the actual race, and even if you live close-by and want to watch it, turn on your computer.

Several TV stations are transmitting the motorcycle race, but none will be showing the whole race. You have the choice of watching the race on FIM Live-TV, or on YouTube.

These are incredible amounts of money. Amounts that are in the stratosphere, beyond comprehension. We're talking about a silkscreen photo of actor Marlon Brando sitting on a motorcycle for the movie The Wild One. This photo is going up for auction in November at Christie's, and is expected to fetch $20 MILLION. $20,000,000??? For a photo that has been reproduced a million times....

Fine, the photo was made by Andy Warhol, and the photo is of Marlon Brando, and yes, there's a motorcycle involved. But still... that is a lot of money for a photo that you can download from the internet and print out for free.

Total squid, but not the kind we're used to seeing. Here's a guy who obviously thinks that riding a motorcycle requires no hands, and sitting on a motorcycle like most sensible riders is for pussies. He prefers sitting on the bike the "amazon" way.

It is pretty amazing though when you watch the video. He just sits astride on the motorcycle, not holding the handlebars, while gesturing at the car making the video. Amazing, but crazy...

For those of you who want to color-match your helmet with your clothes or motorcycle, fear not. Help is on the way....Kirk and Matthew Chung have deposited a patent for helmets that can accommodate different color shells.

This means by simply removing the out layer, you can change shells depending on you mood and/or clothes.

It used to be that in the good old days in Paris, you could flag down a taxi by just holding up your hand in the street. But that was a long time ago, and nowadays you need to reserve taxis by using complicated phone-in procedures, or for the more modern companies, a dedicated web service. Even motorcycle taxis don't escape this process.

But the smartphone app Uber is changing this. Available for iPhone and Android devices, you can not only reserve a motorcycle taxi (and normal car taxis) in Paris, but also pay for it using the app. So you don't need to bring your money with you to pay the cab........

This is a very good sign. The European politicians are planning to make an annual technical roadworthiness inspection for motorcycles mandatory somewhere in the near future. Every motorcycle lobby group is totally against this, but now one government has pronounced against it, that of the Dutch government.

The Dutch government has sent out a letter saying that they are against the proposed new law. According to them

"The Netherlands is against the expansion of mandatory technical inspections for 2 or 3 wheeled vehicles, resulting in an enormous increase of administration and roadside inspections, since the expected positive effects on road safety and the environment can not be offset by the administrative efforts by its citizens and enterprises."....

The rotary (or better known as Wankel) engine used by Suzuki for their new motorcycle was short lived. A different type of engine could have been a blessing to many people in 1974, but the new motorcycle engine never took.

Despite that, they managed to run a TV commercial back in 1975. Not exactly an advertisement that will get people to flock to buy the bike...

This is so weird & wonderful it got to be true. Last week in Italy, a group calling itself Comitato No Velox (which is Italian for No Speed Camera Committee) has decided that enough is enough, and went out and kidnapped a speed camera.

They penetrated a police storage facility and took the speed camera, valued at US$25,000, but to make matters worse (or better, depending on your point of view), sent a ransom note to the police. The ransom note, in true kidnapper style, was made out of letters cut from newspapers. The note said "RETURN THE MONEY".......

We don't really get that many motorcycle riding superheros do we? Yes, granted, there are a couple of good guys who occasionally ride a motorcycle (Captain America springs to mind, or even Batman). But no full fledged biker out to fight crime, and end up in a bar fight or two.

That might change, it'll depend on you. Moto Doom is a Kickstarter project, in other words, a crowd-funding project, where Russell Walters is looking for a reasonably small amount of money that will allow him to finish his first cartoon: Moto Doom Vol.1: Satan Rides a Seven Fifty Fastback.......

Talk about double standards. Some parts of the Dutch political parties, in this case the socialist PVDA, want to make illegal the escorting of funerals of 1%er by 1%ers. In other words, when one of their own 1%er gang dies, the other members would not be allowed to escort the deceased to their funeral (if the law is passed, which isn't the case ... yet).

The reason cited by the politicians is that the funeral procession has got nothing to do with honoring a fallen comrade but more "flying the flag", or "showing the colors".

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